An Associate Chief Judge in Nova Scotia has sentenced a man to a six-month conditional sentence order, and a concurrent conditional sentence order for 12 months for operating an unlicensed cannabis store.

Editor’s note: The man was initially given four months’ incarceration, but received a six-month conditional sentence in lieu of the four months’ incarceration. For the first three months, he will be on house arrest with limited opportunity to leave his dwelling. For the next three months he will be subject to a curfew from 10 pm till 6 am.

The man, Albert Marshall, operated a cannabis store called the Flower Barn within the territory of the Millbrook First Nation. After receiving complaints from the community, the RCMP visited the store in 2019, warning Marshall to cease operations. RCMP later conducted a search and seized the building and its contents, and laid multiple charges under the federal Cannabis Act and the Excise Act. 

The man’s lawyer had argued that the Millbrook First Nation had a historical connection to cannabis and cannabis trade prior to contact with Europeans, that the development of federal and provincial cannabis regulations did not include consultation with the First Nation, and that Millbrook First Nation is on unceded territory.

In a provincial court ruling from June 2024, a judge said the defendant’s case did not make an effective argument for the existence of aboriginal and/or Treaty rights attached to their cannabis store operations, siding with the Crown, who argued the case was “frivolous” and a waste of the court’s time.

In deciding on the man’s sentencing, in a March 31, 2025, ruling, the Associate Chief Judge said the sentencing was based around general and specific deterrence, noting that this type of offence is proliferating in Nova Scotia, in contradiction of provincial and federal cannabis regulations. 

“It is important to send a message that the cannabis supply offered through the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation [NSLC] is subject to tax that funds the health care costs arising from its use and that the product is derived from legal sources. The legal regime aims to disrupt organized crime involved in the production of cannabis and ensure that Nova Scotians purchase regulated product.”

The judge also noted that the cannabis operation was “sophisticated, organized, and for-profit” and “required a high degree of planning and premeditation” and was not operating with the support of the community. 

“This was not a momentary loss of judgment,” wrote the Honourable Associate Chief Judge Ronda van der Hoek. “It was a sustained and involved effort undertaken over time, for profit, and with limited attention to whether the historical record supported either an Aboriginal or treaty right.”

Although the man’s lawyer had argued for a conditional discharge, the judge said this would be against the public interest, saying it could be seen as a “minimal or weak deterrent, or even a low cost of doing business, and encourage those inclined to open an illegal cannabis trafficking operation.”

“It is therefore necessary that a sentence have the deterrent effect of reminding the public that even those without criminal records who traffic in marijuana will pay a heavy price,” continued the judge in their written decision. “The Crown says people are watching this case to some degree and, if it is believed that an Indigenous person who wants to run a trafficking enterprise on reserve will receive a discharge, no disincentive exists.”

A Facebook account for The Flower Barn shows multiple locations of the business, which is apparently still operating as recently as March 2025.

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